Enhancing Indoor Air Quality: Comparative Study of Natural Composite Panels for Material Humidity Control

Humans are at risk of being affected by sick building syndrome due to high humidity in the room. Indonesia is a humid tropical country that generally has a traditional building concept using bamboo and wood with a porous structure that quickly releases moisture. However, due to scarcity, people switched to using brick walls with airtight structures. Some processed coconut plants can be used as moisture reducers such as coconut shell-activated carbon charcoal and coconut husk which can adsorb humidity. These materials can be formed into composite panels and mixed with other natural materials like paper and tapioca flour. This study uses a comparative experimental method comparing several composite panel performance test results. The results show that charcoal panels have the best ability in the dehumidification system that can adsorb 11.7% of moisture for 12 h and can maintain the stability of room humidity with desorption of 2.1% within 11 h.